The Adventure

   "It is almost spring break.  We have decided we would like to take a trip.  We as a family have sat around a lot this winter doing a whole lot of nothing so while it may not be considered perfect timing to take a trip right now, I want to go because my kids need adventure.  Waiting around is hard on me...it makes no sense for children.
   We are going to visit our out-of-state daughters and their families, with a trip to northwest Ohio and then moving on to Richmond, Virginia. Stops in between those two places will include a few Civil War sites and Washington D.C. for a couple of days.  Nothing big...nothing earthshaking, but it is something.  We need to embrace and enjoy adventure again.
   We will leave tomorrow.  I have a blood test to take care of today and a bit of packing to do, but it is energizing to anticipate a road trip.  Chemo Round Six has been aggressive.  I have not felt well since last Thursday when the final round was pumped into me.  But today feels a bit better than yesterday.  We will see what happens...after all, that is the basic nature of adventure.  Adventure does not really begin until something is hard or something goes wrong.  I hope I am ready for a little adventure."

   I wrote the above three paragraphs early this morning and now that I read it, I am thinking: "That all sounds fairly boring and benign to an able-bodied person.  Sit in a car, then sit in a house, then walk a little bit.  Where is the adventure in all of that?"  But a side effect of chemo is that it makes the easy tasks tricky, it makes the mundane acts of life arduous, and it makes the hard things virtually impossible.
   For example, when I would take a shower in my pre-cancer life, I would grab a new set of clothes, go to the bathroom, get undressed, clean up, towel off, comb my hair (hair??), and be ready to go in ten minutes.  But now this same action means I have to make choices as I assemble together an entirely new set of clothes and actually carry them all by myself all the way to the bathroom (thinking AND working at the same time).  Then I have to get undressed, maintaining my balance the whole time (and this part also has to be done all by myself).  With every layer that comes off, I am struck with how suddenly the temperature in this bathroom is dropping.  When bare skin is finally exposed, it feels as though Antarctica has entered my house.  And that step over the side of the tub...I never remember having to lift my leg that high for anything before.  Then, when it is time to get out, I turn off the warm water and am instantly hit with that deep chill again, but this time I am also wet so it seems even colder.  I towel off and get dressed as quickly as a frozen body can without falling over, and then gather those three blankets and I find my place on the couch, completely exhausted.  Whew.

   "It is almost spring break.  We have decided we would like to take a trip."  It's just a little trip, just like the shower was a short shower.  But I will go -- after all, that is the basic nature of adventure!  Help me out family!  Let the adventure begin!